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For those of you who have never had the "pleasure" of responding to a Request For Proposal, this is the inevitable result of such an exercise, for everyone involved. Seriously - who thinks RFPs are a good idea? Who? I'll bet those people think Sarah Palin epitomizes intellectual thought in this country, too.

Can you guess what I'm doing this week? Can you guess who ran out of pre-posted content for her blog this morning? Can you guess whose blog content promises to be a bit thin for the next week or so as I put this to bed and also complete the other work and home-related tasks for which I bear responsibility? Can you guess who will probably be counting her own fingers and giggling incessantly to herself by the middle of next week?

Uh, I think I've sent out, oh...maybe...hundreds... of RFPs over my career. o.O

In my defense, my company requires triple proposals for every project over $100,000. If I know I am only going to use a certain vendor, sometimes I game the system and split the project into two so it's under $100 K and I don't waste the time of people I know I'm not going to use (I'm producing a follow-up video to one I did last year, going to use the same vendor, so the story design and animation and voice-overs and polish will be three different projects to keep everything off the triple bid list).

When I do send out an RFP, I read every response, and sometimes have even changed my mind about which form to use based on a stellar proposal. So it's not a total waste of time, though I do have a good idea who I want when I send one out...

And I alone, or one other guy and I write all my RFPs - I tell you exactly what I want. Now, if you bring something new to the table, it puts you in that "change my mind" category, so it's good to be creative on my RFPs.

John, RFPs are only useful from a vendor perspective if you're the one who the customer has in mind when they issue it. In my experience, 98% of the time everyone else is simply column fodder. And the amount of fodder you provide is directly proportional to how unorganized, contradictory and stupid the questions are.

Call me crazy, but I do not enjoy spending hundreds of hours a year working my ass off so that customers can check off that "three bids" requirement. And since many of the questions have no bearing on the efficacy of the solution proposed, but only serve to show how "smart" the questioner is, I'm really even less interested.

What I'm saying is that the entire RFP model is broken, broken, broken. There simply has to be a better way for customers to be able to make an informed choice.

It is even more fun when the vendor you pick for a project isn't the one your VP wants the project to go to.

Especially when the VP's choice is going to learn how by doing this project.

I won, but I don't work there anymore.

My boss gave me crap for not meeting the project deadline and did not like it when I pointed out that I had and with much time to spare. That his boss had decided on the new evaluation using proposals from multiple vendors.

Re-evaluation came up with the exact same vendor/proposal but one year later.

I've always hated them. As a property manager, they didn't ask the questions I needed answered because guess what, I didn't get to design the form. I almost always knew who I was going to use bc I had prior knowledge of their experience and price rating and whom I was willing to partner with. This didn't exempt me from the requirement. It just made the vendors who never got the job less willing to answer an RFP next time causing me more work finding vendors I KNOW aren't qualified, but needing to check a box. Your job to fill them out sucks, but from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate anyone who fills them out to help me fulfill my job.I'd be happy to come out next week and help collect marbles with Anne.

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I care about social justice, libraries, science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I have a little resale side business called "Alastrina Enterprises." Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.